Theodore II Eirenikos

Seal of Theodor II. Eirenikos as hypatos ton philosophon (around 1208/14)

Theodor II Eirenikos ( Greek Θεόδωρος Β 'Εἰρηνικός ; † January 31, 1216 ) or Theodor Kopas ( Κωπάς / Κουπάς ) was Patriarch of Constantinople in exile in Nicaia (1214-1216).

Life

Theodore was an influential official at the imperial court. In 1197 he became epi tou kanikleiou ( ἐπὶ τοῦ κανικλείου ), one of the highest and most influential ministers as guardian of the imperial sealing paraphernalia. It was called pansebastos sebastos .

After the fall of Constantinople in 1204, he went to Asia Minor and became a monk.

In 1209 he became chartophylax ( χαρτοφύλαξ , a high official in the administration of documents) with the patriarch in exile in Nikaia. He also bore the title hypatos ton philosophon ( ὕπατος τῶν φιλοσόφων , head of the philosophy school in Constantinople).

On September 28, 1214 he was elected Patriarch of Constantinople by the Synod of the Nicaea Empire . Theodor was very critical of the treatment of the Orthodox in the Latin Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Latin Empire of Constantinople . He rejected efforts by Orthodox to choose his own Greek patriarch for Constantinople, but negotiated with the papal legate Pelagius von Albano about the union of the churches.

He died on January 31, 1216.

literature

• Vitalien Laurent: La chronologie des patriarches de Constantinople au XIIIe siècle (1208-1309). In: Revue des études byzantines. Vol. 27, 1969, pp. 129-150.
• Paris Gounadaris: Édification du patriarcat à Nicée . In: Christian host [u. a.]: The Patriarchate of Constantinople in Context and Comparison (Publications on Byzanzforschung 41). VÖAW, Vienna 2017, 25–30.

predecessor	Office	successor
Michael IV.	Patriarch of Constantinople 1214–1216	Maximos II